She Was A Wreck, But So Was He
by feisu-chan
Summary: He was detained in a prison far from home. She had learned to let go. Yet time and circumstances would let her know that he would always be her only weakness – and she, his strength. UPDATED WITH EPILOGUE. COMPLETE.
1. Rumors Had It

**She Was A Wreck, But So Was He**

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><p><em>He was detained in a prison far from home. She had learned to let go. Yet time and circumstances would let her know that he would always be her only weakness – and she, his strength.<em>

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1: Rumors Had It<strong>_

In a shinobi village, it was ironic to have rumors running through town each day - especially for classified information, and having these news spread across distances. Ironic it might sound, but rumors were each village's daily essentials.

Thus, when the rumor that the international criminal, ninja prodigy and Uchiha survivor, Uchiha Sasuke, was finally captured, the town was alive. It was a little over half a decade since the end of the Fourth Shinobi War declared by Uchiha Madara, and the Alliance were still trying to get back on their feet, for damage was extensively handed down to them.

The war's proprietor was killed, thank Kami-sama, and that sleazy Orochimaru wanna-be was sealed. But rumors had it that those who had been on the higher tier fighting Madara had gone easy with the younger Uchiha.

It was Uzumaki Naruto, the nine-tails jinchuuriki, who had fought Sasuke. And no one really knew what went on that battle, except for these two. In the end, however, like that epic confrontation in the Valley of the End, Naruto laid helpless on the granite slab, and Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

This morning, rumors had it that Uchuha Sasuke was finally caught, as he was wandering aimlessly at the Kumogakure mountains. He was alone, and surprisingly, he didn't even put up a fight. Kumo ninja said that he just looked at his captors and silently let them cuff him.

He was currently staying at the Kumo prisons, and being an international criminal, he was most likely to be detained there for a long, long time.

Was there, however, any chances of Sasuke being let off the hook? Given now that Naruto was Hokage? Slim. Villages were still wary of this criminal, and the wounds of past were so deep, they couldn't try to forget.

Though it wasn't entirely known to be true, but it was also said, according to rumors, that Sasuke looked harmless and even out of his mind. He didn't utter a word, which was actually a known fact of him, nor did he even show a sign of animosity, nor that proud air of an Uchiha. He was a completely different person, except for his hair, his eyes were even bland, as if empty.

But those were only rumors; there's no chance of it being true, was there? Haruno Sakura thought. Uchiha Sasuke could never look so helpless, could he? No, he couldn't. And Sakura went on with her day, shrugging that rumor, and the news of his capture, off.

Within that week, it was sealed. The leaders of the five villages had taken a vote. Kumo, Kirigakure and Iwagakure all voted for Uchiha Sasuke's sentence to take effect. After the war, it was decided that all international criminals, who were involved in the war, still alive and at large, would be imprisoned for at least twenty years. Only Konoha and Suna were against it.

In Kumogakure, Uchiha Sasuke would be detained, in maximum security, for the next twenty years - or less, for good behavior.

That evening, after the news, Sakura and Naruto sat quietly in her dining table. They hadn't said a word to each other. She knew he came here to apologize, for not being able to do everything in his power. That not even being a Hokage could save a friend. She felt sorry for Naruto, for he had carried this emotional burden for so long.

She had let go of Sasuke after she saw Naruto lying almost lifeless in that battlefield. She was the first one to arrive, and had seen Sasuke limping out of the scene just a few meters away. She called him out, he didn't turn. She ran to him, he stopped her even before she was halfway there.

Sakura was dead on her track, for Sasuke was just inches in front of her. They stood there for a moment, and his eyes were as sinister as she had remembered it to be. Still, she wanted to reach out and touch his face, but he touched hers first. She didn't know if it was real, but the moment his fingers met her skin, she almost cried of gentleness. That he was caressing her in what seemed like the tenderest feeling she had ever felt. But in an instant, as she looked to his swirling eyes, images of gore and death and her own torture were played heartlessly in her mind. She was killed slowly by the thrust of his sword, and each inch of her body was fried by his lightning needles.

Before he removed his hand from her cheeks and laid her to the ground, she might have imagined him whispering words she never thought she could do.

"Forget me."

And everything else that had followed was the eternal torture he had created in her mind. A part of her was still conscious, though. And the last of her sane mind was spent summoning Tsunade's slug and ordering it to heal Naruto first.

From then on, with the realization that her feelings for Sasuke had once again prioritized him, and almost left Naruto dying - even herself - she did what he asked of her.

But, with Naruto sulking in her dinner table, she thought maybe she'd do him a favor.

"Would you like to visit Sasuke in Kumo?" she reluctantly offered.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Greetings! This is an entry to the SasuSaku Month in LJ. This will be a series of seven chapters, for Week Three themed Post-Canon. I'm a bit excited about this, and I hope you are too. Welcome to a new series. And, Enjoy! :3 Tell me what you think!

Don't worry, old readers, Of Waiting will still be followed through. Go check it out, too!

Enjoy~~


	2. If Winter Comes Can Spring Be Far Behind

**Chapter 2: If Winter Comes, Can Spring Be Far Behind?**

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><p>It was late afternoon, three days after they left Konoha, when they arrived at the village hidden among the clouds. They travelled through a convoy of carriages, for being with a Hokage entailed such benefits - or rather an annoyance, much to Sakura's chagrin.<p>

"At least we arrived sooner than when we walked on foot," Naruto appeased. Yes, that's fortunate, though. She was just not used to all the attention and treatment. Their sensei, Kakashi, tailed them as they entered their inn.

She had opted to have a room for herself, but Naruto asked to share one. She could get to choose her bed, he promised, and he wouldn't do anything silly, swear!

"Please, Sakura-chan, just like old times!" he begged. And it was contagious, she finally agreed. Even Kakashi, who was trying to be indifferent, couldn't help but play a small hidden smile behind his mask.

Sakura declined the dinner prepared by the Raikage. When the other two left, she was alone in their suite. She couldn't deny the jitters she had since they decided to come for a visit, for she was rather nervous of what Sasuke would do once he saw them. Would he drive them away, again? Or would he even get out of his cell to meet them? What would she feel? Naruto? Would wounds open up again? Regrets?

As she lay there, however, waiting for her body to give in to slumber, she prayed that may this visit mark a peaceful closure for Kakashi, for Naruto, and for her.

The next morning, she didn't get up as soon as she'd awoken. Instead, she willed herself back to sleep. But couldn't, for she wouldn't want to face what's in for them. She was still scared, of how this visit would go. Of seeing Sasuke again, when the last time she did, all she could remember was him stabbing her again and again.

She could sense that Naruto was equally nervous. Kakashi was just the same, even though he had never uttered a word since they woke up. Despite his laid back expression, she could tell that their sensei was affected, as well. At least, she wasn't all alone feeling awkward about seeing Sasuke again.

Their trip to the prison was uneventful, unusually quiet. And when they'd reached the high fortresses of an old castle, their pace slowed, stalling. The prison guard asked them to deposit their kunai plus all weapons, even their hitai-ate.

Heavy doors twice, or thrice, as tall as them were pushed open by two brute ninja. Then they were led to a very narrow corridor, too dark as though these convicts did not deserve light, or warmth. It was cold, even. Everything was silent, and all they could hear were their wary footsteps.

Not so far from the door, they entered a staircase leading down to a wide hall filled with chairs and tables, and this might be the visitor's center. It was wide, indeed, a big change from the one they just came from. And yet it was empty. Which makes sense, maybe. Maximum security prisoners might have lost even their dignity that no one had visited them. How about families? Friends? Didn't they stick up with them through such times?

It crushed her heart thinking about it, as guilt suddenly seized her. She had planned to make this visit her very last time to see Sasuke. It should all end here.

It should…

They waited for about ten minutes until another guard opened the gate across the hall, with a chained Uchiha Sasuke in another hand. Sakura felt the atmosphere strained as all three of them saw their former teammate being led to their table. Naruto gripped his chair, Kakashi sat stiffly as he pinched his crossed arms against his chest.

And Sakura, her eyes were only fixed straight ahead, to where the boy of her past was walking lifelessly to where they were. There were no emotions from her, only eyes filling her face as she studied him. He was almost unrecognizable. His body was slouching as he walked, his head was down. And when he sat to the seat across them, he laid his cuffed hands on the table and looked at them, then bowed his head to stare at his fiddling fingers. He looked… empty.

It was standard protocol for prisons to disturb the chakra flow of the convict so as to keep one from using techniques. But judging him, Sakura knew that his hollowness wasn't due to that. He looked healthy; he seemed to be eating right. But his face seemed as though it had sagged, for lack of muscle use probably. It was just hard to describe him.

As well as painful to look at.

She didn't know if he was in his right mind as of the moment, or if he had memory lapses, for he had not uttered one word, nor gave out one emotion upon seeing them. They should have been his most hated people. But now, he just didn't care.

He was an empty shell. And just by looking at him, Sakura felt that life was taken out of him. He no longer had the will to live. What would he have to live for anyway, when avenging for his clan was long past fulfilled?

Uchiha Sasuke was a pathetic case. And she pitied him so much so that she couldn't stand looking at him like that. She stood, without even noticing that Naruto tried to start a conversation. Past tables and tables and to the stairs, she walked out, careful not to skip to a run.

She would have gone straight to the doors back to that narrow corridor, but she was almost breathless from that encounter; she stopped against the wall to catch her breath. When she turned, she could still perfectly see the table where they all sat, down from where she was resting. However, her heart skipped a beat as she saw Sasuke straight ahead slouching in his seat with the same position before she left.

Only difference was his head was tilted and he was staring back at her.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Still for SasuSaku Month in LJ. Prompt: Warmth for Week 3 Post-Canon Theme. Thank you all for the comments and for seemingly enjoying this fic and this month as I am.

**Chapter Title Reference: **

O, wind,  
>If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?<br>~Percy Bysshe Shelley

Again, enjoy ~~ More love! :3


	3. Disenchantment

**Chapter 3: Disenchantment**

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><p>Sakura heard the suite's main door open, signaling the return of Naruto and Kakashi. She was in a sofa busying herself with scrolls and a few magazines. They didn't pry on her, or even asked why she'd left so suddenly in the prison, thank goodness.<p>

"We brought you lunch," announced Naruto, lethargically.

"That's fine, but I'm not hungry."

"'Kay," and Naruto dumped her lunch to the garbage, in which surprised Sakura and was about to reprimand the blonde, but the latter just went out of the door again.

"What's up with him?" Sakura asked, and Kakashi looked at her as though she wasn't serious.

"You tell me, Sakura," and he plopped down beside her.

"No, seriously, is he mad at me? Was it because I walked out?" At first, Kakashi didn't answer and just flipped open one of the many books he enjoyed reading. But when she continued to glare at him like that, he conceded.

"Ok, yes of course he's mad."

"Why? Does he take it against me that I couldn't stand the tension?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe he was just expecting too much from you. He might have been hoping you'd be the bigger person and at least try to forgive and forget. After all, Sasuke's in prison now."

That left her pondering for quite a while that afternoon; but she was still upset that nobody thought of what she might have possibly felt after what Sasuke had done. That mindrape before he went off the last time.

Sakura scoffed, she sounded like a brat. Maybe Kakashi was right. Remembering Sasuke's lifelessness earlier today, she realized that maybe it was time to close that book of hatred and let him know that she could still be supportive.

_What the heck, maybe I can be that bigger person._ She'd just try; no harm in that, was there? And so, she rushed to the market and rummaged for things she knew he could use inside. Toiletries, a few change of clothes, food maybe? Like tomatoes, he still did like tomatoes, right? And fruits.

She stopped whatever she was doing, and contemplated her actions. This was fine, right? She was just being the bigger person, and it wouldn't freak him out if she brought him stuff, right? It's not like she did it out of love. Maybe just something to get her conscience settled, yes. But it was more for being that bigger person.

The clock tower said it was a quarter past two in the afternoon. She still had a lot of time before visiting hours ended, but she didn't waste any time going to the prison. Sakura repeated the procedures she had done earlier today. She already knew the way into the hall, yet she was still accompanied by guards.

She looked fresh and determined to just get this meeting over with, but inside, she was shaking. She couldn't trust herself from acting inappropriately in front of him again. Especially when her actions must have insulted him today.

_It's not like all's well for me anyway, even when he's already incarcerated!_ She thought, justifying her walk out. Pain was still etched so intricately in the depths of her heart. It was only the hopes of having the pain somehow fade away upon seeing him for the last time.

How, after all, could you move on from the heart ache of having been attempted to be killed by the one you love? Not only for one attempt, but no less than several times. That's a silly question. You move on in that very instant. Once was enough, but having it repeated again and again, that's stupidity.

Hence, Sakura cursed herself over and over. But could you blame her? When her heart still clung to that boy who so sincerely thanked her for her feelings, or that man who caressed her before asking her to forget. Or that man, so distraught and lost, who looked at her with what seemed like hopeful eyes just a few hours ago.

Then again, all of these could only be wishful thinking, more so when she refused to confess that she still believed in him. For doing so could easily make her undone.

She was now sitting at the first table near the stairs; and as usual, she was the only one there. While waiting, she prayed that Sasuke wouldn't want to take any visitors, or that something came up and they're closing up early today. But before she could even finish praying, the steel bars of the gates squeaked open and there was Sasuke, dull and unattractive, held by the doorway.

But despite his aura, lacking so much of that aristocratic stance he and his clan was once known for, she was breathless. He sat across her, and looked at her blankly. As if he was bored looking, he laid back on his chair and tapped his fingers on the table impatiently.

"I, I brought you something," she started, and she noticed that his eyebrows moved in confusion. Sakura then opened a basket under the table, and brought out two onigiri. "Uh, there are necessities in the bag, and, and um, I hope you're not stuffed." She handed his share of onigiri, but when he didn't take it, she fumbled with it and awkwardly placed it in front of him.

"Also, S-sasuke-k, Sasuke, I'd like to apologize for what I did today. Maybe I was just unprepared." He didn't answer; but if she would look up from that speck on the table, she could see that he was intently studying her.

He was curious what made her return. Her resentment and disgust were pretty much obvious with the way she almost glared at him earlier today. He was equally suspicious of her motives. Although the Sakura she had known in his younger years was nowhere near a manipulative and sleazy kunoichi, he was wary. After all, if he recalled, she had once tricked him into helping him when she was actually there to kill him.

She was rambling now, although she was still nervous, she was looking settled in her seat, trying to make eye contacts but only minimal. She said she was now a top medic in Konoha, and time after time she was still sent to A-rank missions for she was already a Jounin. ANBU was her dream title, but with all the work in the hospital she didn't have time to take the exam. Maybe soon, she continued.

Her fingers reached for her onigiri and she started taking in small bites. "You should try it, Sasuke, it tastes good," she said. And she upheld her act as though there was no history between them that drifted them apart. And this only made Sasuke more cautious. He still couldn't find a reason; she couldn't possibly be planning on killing him then and there since there were guards everywhere.

There was a long pregnant pause before she inhaled deeply. "Sasuke, y-you see, I, I don't know where to start, but I just want to tell you that whatever happened in the past, I wish to bury it somewhere and start anew. I still tried the understand you, Sasuke. Although, there are times that I fell short."

She had practiced these lines over and over in her head before she went to see him. She was afraid that she might sound scripted, but she at least wanted to show sincerity in her words, even feign it if need be. Today, however, as she the words came out, emotions flooded her, and she found herself actually meaning every word she said. But regretting that she did….

She bit the insides of her cheeks to keep herself in check. "I am still willing to understand you; maybe I would, for a long, long time. I may not, may not l-love you like I used to, but I could be a friend. Let bygones be bygones. It may not be easy, but maybe, in good time."

He could see tears rimming her eyes, and she refused to look at him. Maybe she was serious and didn't have any bad intentions, after all. Silence enveloped them once more. When it was too awkward that he didn't say one word to what she said, she took the basket from under and rested it on the table.

"I need to be going now; they might be worried about me," she announced, and took his onigiri back into the basket. They stood, and she took in his face, his hair. With a lot of courage mustered, she reached out and took his hand to hers. She was surprised he didn't flinched.

His hands felt awfully cold and coarse, in contrast to all her softness. Still, her grip was strong.

"I wish you well, Sasuke-kun. I hope someday, you'd let us take you in when you get out." Her eyes still roamed around his face; this time she wasn't ashamed to show her tears rolling one after another.

He still looked apathetic, or bored. She left it at that, and walked past him.

"Sakura," for the first time, he spoke; his voice still as deep and strong as before. The way he said her name stirred indescribable feelings from within her. Immediately, she turned. "You aren't coming back, are you?"

"What?"

He scoffed. "I figured as much. You didn't have to say all those things if you're planning to disappear."

"I-I'm not!" she lied.

"Forget it. I _understand_ if you don't." With that, Sasuke started walking away to the gates leading to his cell; the basket left untouched. Sakura watched him, writhing that he was calling her a liar (even if she actually was). She tried to be the bigger person, he was arrogant enough that he couldn't even say something back to what she said so earnestly - except for the part where he figured him out, again.

"Hey jerk!" she called out, and he turned with an irritated but amused expression. "What is it with you if I didn't come back to visit?"

"Because you said big things, and it's shameless if you couldn't live up to it," he retorted. "For a minute there, I almost believed you. But clearly, you changed. Maybe we all did."

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Thank you all again for the reviews and the favorites, and for simply having the time to read my fic. It's keeping me out of my school requirements, but I'm enjoying it! To hell with thesis! :)

Enjoy, guys~~ :3


	4. To Close the Open Hand Because One Loves

**Chapter 4: To Close the Open Hand Because One Loves**

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><p>"<em>This is what is hardest: to close the open hand because one loves." - Friedrich Nietzsche<em>

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><p>That was it!<p>

Haruno Sakura stomped across the room, unmindful of the curious eyes that trailed her angry wake. He had no right telling that to her face! None at all. Not after everything he had done, not only to her but to Naruto and the whole shinobi world.

She was sincere, she truly was! She said what she wanted to tell him. And she really meant it when she said she wanted to be there when he got out of prison. It was insulting, and hurtful, for him to tell her those things. She was being that bigger person, putting history and his own faults aside.

He didn't get to tell her that! Not when he tried to kill her so many times.

The next morning, however, she was eager to see him. This was their last day in Kumogakure, and she wanted to give him a piece of her mind. Forget that bigger person. _And I'll make sure he understands that!_

"Sit down, Sakura-chan," Naruto offered, but she refused to and continued tapping her heels as they wait for Sasuke in the visitor's hall. They didn't know what was wrong with her, but she was obviously pissed and they didn't want to have anything to do with it. Sakura was Sakura; she rarely gets temperamental nowadays, but when she did she could blow up.

The basket from yesterday was still on that same table, surprising that the guards didn't take it yet. She got a hold of it and laid it on their new table now. Minutes later, Sasuke emerged from the gates, and her eyes narrowed as if ready to pierce. When he saw her, standing arrogantly with her arms crossed against her chest, he just smirked. She was clearly angry, completely different from the stammering, tearful, gentle woman from yesterday.

He was intrigued, actually, with what this woman had to say. She looked as though she was ready to wrestle him down, if not for the place, maybe. He chided inwardly. _Humor me_. She should be enough of an entertainment for this godforsaken place, or even for his ran-down life.

He kept his usual bored expression as he approached them. When he was near her, as she was inches ahead of the table, he smirked and nodded to acknowledge her presence, as if to mock her. He finally sat down with his back to her. It amused him further that the two people sitting with him grew even more confused at the drama playing in front of them.

Sasuke waited for them to speak, Naruto would always try to break the ice. But she beat him to it. She turned until he could see her glaring at him from his side.

"You, Sasuke-_kun_, don't get to tell me that! I ate my pride yesterday, and I acted like some stupid fangirl still fawning over you just to tell you things that could somehow close that fucking gap between us," she flared. "You disappeared first; it shouldn't even bother you if I do exactly what you did."

He appeared to lack enthusiasm, or even acted as though she was non-existent; but he silently listened. To every word she had to say. If this should be their last meeting, then it could be a better closure than the one he gave her years and years back.

"I did what you asked me to, after all. I did forget you. Yesterday, I just tried to reach out, even wanting to be there for you, _as a friend_, when you get out. And now you're mad that I wouldn't be coming back here? You, of all the jack-ass people, don't get to tell me that!"

Sasuke bit his tongue to keep himself from grinning as Naruto and Kakashi ogled at the two of them. He was more bewildered, however, at the way she ranted that if he didn't concentrate enough, his unresponsive face would break into a smile. The only response she got was the movement of his chained hands from the table to his face, crossing his fingers in front of his mouth in case she finally cracked him to laugh.

Sakura fumed even more due to his lack of response. She should have known better, than to expect this Uchiha to even respond to anything. He was apathetic. But yesterday, he didn't sound like he was. As though it really did bother him that she wouldn't be coming back to see him. Or deep down, did she pull this skit just to get him say what she truly wanted to hear?

_No fucking chance_, thought her. In which it boiled her up and her reflexes made her raise her clenched fists to punch his arrogant poker face. He was on the floor in mere seconds.

"Oi, Sakura!" exclaimed her two alarmed companions. The guard, who was a meter away, immediately ran between Sakura and Sasuke.

"Lady, you better calm down or I would need you to leave," he threatened, but she could only glare at the man who interrupted. Naruto already went beside her and almost dragged her on an empty seat between Kakashi and him.

"Sasuke," Kakashi gestured him to rise and get back to the table. That was truly unexpected. And Sasuke cursed as his jaw felt numb from her attack. To spite her, he sat exactly in front of her, glaring irritatingly at the woman who had balls to do that to him - in prison.

"What? You're gonna try and kill me again?" provoked Sakura, he only smirked. "You could've just said sorry, Sasuke, instead of accusing me of being a liar. Besides, what was the point of telling me I was insincere, when you could care less about it?"

She just couldn't stop talking, as if she had a lot to say when she had just been repeating what she had already said. Why was he putting up with her, anyway? Yesterday was clearly a mistake, he had blurted out without thinking. But he really couldn't help it. The realization of her no longer visiting after all of the things she said hurt him in an indescribable way.

It was silly. And now, knowing that this was the last time he'd see her, and seeing all that anger she had for him, he couldn't just will himself to stay indifferent. It was for closure.

His eyes turned to slits and glowered in annoyance of her. "Look, I wasn't the one who approached you and asked for your kind words. I just wish you didn't come all the way here just to screw with me," Sasuke hissed. "If you couldn't say anything that you couldn't live up to, then don't even speak a word."

"I meant what I said, goddamn you!" She rose, as she hit the table loudly.

Her stubbornness was annoying, and all the more painful. "I never said anything to keep your hopes up, have I? So do me a favor; shut up and stop making me believe that there is for me. I almost fell for it."

She stared at him for the longest time; and as his words sank in, her body limped inch by inch. She had no more words for him. In her head there are a lot, more questions, more curses, more words. But in that moment, she went blank.

Through such harsh words, she easily came undone. He may be the most inarticulate person ever, but he had a way of making her go back to her own words. He was evil, cruel, and just couldn't stop playing with her mind even after years of blocking him off.

Sasuke stood now, ready to leave. "Go home, Sakura. All of you. And just move on with your lives, then let me go on with mine." He signaled his guard that he's done here. No one made a move, not even Naruto and Kakashi expected Sasuke to say something like _that_.

"Did, did he mean what I think he means?" she asked, softly; still looking at the gate where Sasuke went in to.

Naruto, having been recovered from the drama that he just witnessed, couldn't help but chuckle. Happily. "Yes, I guess he meant it that way, Sakura-chan." Even Kakashi was in the mood to tease.

"Who would think that Sasuke would only speak to you, Sakura? He didn't even say 'stupid' to Naruto's endless ramblings yesterday."

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei, maybe it's because he wasn't up for it, after Sakura-chan left," he egged on. She was feeling warm and fuzzy with their coaxing. He wasn't mindraping her again, was he? No, he couldn't be.

She was still stunned, he was impossible, unbelievable. She couldn't make herself stand, afraid this feeling might just be from a dream; but Naruto was sweet enough to carry her on his back.

"Sasuke, you idiot, you forgot your basket again," she whispered to Naruto's back, so the blonde took it with him. She'd just have to give it to that bastard again. And with that thought, he beamed.

"Nee, Sakura-chan, you're not going back home after that, are you?" She didn't answer, though.

"Teehee! You can stay a bit longer; I bet Tsunade-sama wouldn't mind." Sakura's grip on Naruto's shoulder tightened, and it continued to do so as they went back to the inn.

"Wasn't he keeping my hopes up now? He's doing exactly what he didn't want me to do! What a hypocrite!" She mumbled, with her voice muffled by Naruto's neck. "Sasuke, you idiot..."

The two men just laughed. Naruto was in high spirits. Somehow, he felt that all could end well. "Sasuke, you idiot… Sasuke, you idiot…" she continued whispering, to the point of almost chanting.

It wasn't time for these two to have their closure, Naruto mused. Not yet, not when their story had just began. He didn't know how it'd work out, but somehow, fate would manage.

"Sasuke, you idiot…"

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Thank you heaps and heaps! I'm sorry if it's getting tooooo angsty... You should know by now that I revel in angst, but it's starting to exhaust me. So I'm trying to get the mood be a bit light. Tell me what you think? I was all fluffy when the idea of Sasuke saying those words pop into my head, but as I re-read it, I wasn''t so sure anymore... Sorry, maybe it's the angst... Bit too much?

Still for SasuSaku Month. Prompt: Close.

Enjoy, and tell me about it ^^ I'm stalling my thesis for this fic, but I'm enjoying a lot! :3 Thank you again for the kind words!


	5. Come Away With Me

**Chapter 5: Come Away With Me**

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><p>It had been an uncontested observation that the more you'd ran away from something, the more it'd find you. In a world that's not flat, just like ours, you could ran to opposing directions, and yet you'd definitely find each other at the poles. In a world such as ours, you couldn't fight off gravity, nor could you cut yourself off from that thread of fate; for the universe had conspired to binary existence: there's the north and the south; day and night; pink and black (because white and black was simply obsolete); you and that one other person caught at the end of your thread.<p>

In the end, the more these two deny what their hearts had constantly whispered, the more it ate at them.

Sasuke was lying on his back on a spongy futon inside his cell, his hands on his nape as a pillow. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. Only thinking. For he had been contemplating on what to do with that piece of paper, rolled like a cigarette, resting between his lips. He could just dispose of it. Actually, he already did, but an hour later, he rummaged the trash can beside his door to look for it again.

He blamed his sessile prison life for even doing such a thing. He could also eat it instead. Easiest way to get rid of it. But he couldn't even make himself chew paper!

And so, the little piece of paper, rolled like a cigarette, was lovingly resting between his lips.

It came with the basket a kid he didn't know brought for him this morning. He recognized it was that same basket from that woman. In it was this paper with ugly scribbles obviously of her handwriting, which didn't really change since they were twelve.

"You forgot to bring this again, baka. Make one tomato rot, I swear I'll make you eat it!" was all that was written. And yet…

To hell with it! Later at dinner, he would surely throw it away in one of the bins in the dining hall.

He slept, however, while twirling the rolled paper in his fingers. Because he had _forgotten_ to take it out with him.

The next morning, a grumpy pink-haired kunoichi rolled off the bed and cursed the sun. She barely had an hour of sleep for another night.

Today was her second day on Kumo since Naruto and Kakashi left. They went home the night before yesterday. And she had reluctantly stayed. She was still reluctant until now for she was unsure whether being here was a good thing of that she was just plainly being stupid.

Yesterday, she was about to see him again, but immediately changed her mind after showering. Instead, she asked for the inn manager's son to deliver the basket, and then she moped all day.

In her head, she was able to list down a hundred reasons why this was wrong. And yet she was still here at Kumogakure all because of one reason why she had to: because it seemed as though he wanted her to stay.

With only that to contest all other one hundred cons, she carelessly allowed her heart run free after having been under lock and key.

She cursed the sun, and asked the gods why the heck she went back to having partial thoughts of him when she had thought it was all gone. She demanded, with heavy cussing still, that they've got to have a good ending for this. Or else!

The whole morning went by with her going back and forth from town to the prison grounds and back to town again. In the afternoon, after eating lunch (because, maybe, if she ate, she could get rid of her fickleness), she marched right into the prison gates and surrendered all her knives.

Today, she brought him tea in a tumbler she would later ask him to keep, so that in mornings he could have warm coffee or just tea.

He sat in front of her, yet again, and his face wasn't wary that he was showing her his confusion.

"Naruto extended our trip because he had business with the Raikage," she answered his unasked question.

He seemed to understand. And then he asked, "Then why are you here?"

"I'm bored," was all she said, so casually. She had practiced that, mind you. Although, she knew she was lying again, there was no way she'd tell him why she's still around. At least not yet. She needed to make sure that he did want her presence. And, of course, she'd bump prides with this Uchiha first.

"Did you get the basket yesterday?" she asked, trying to normalize their awkward situation.

"Aa."

"Did you eat the food?"

"Aa. Every last piece." She almost twitched, but he was mocking her again. Yet she let that pass. Two could play the game; and the whole visit went on with casual talk without lowering their prides.

She returned the next day, and then the day after next, and the next, until she completed a week. He continued seeing her though, just for the fun of it, he reasoned out.

And by this time, he already figured out that Naruto had long been away, and this woman eventually stayed.

She brought a whole lot of goods each day, from towels, to jackets and blankets and even pocketbooks and newspapers so he had something to pass the time.

One day, she brought a volume of that book Kakashi was so fond of. She was stifling a laugh while he was checking it out. When he raised an eyebrow, she pissed him more.

"I thought you might like it," she beamed. He just rolled his eyes.

"I'm not into your kind of stuff," he retorted and she glared.

It had become a routine, her daily visits. At nine, the warden would open his cell and cuff his hands. In the visiting area, she would be sitting at the same table over to the back. She always brought lunch. There was this stall, she shared, that cooked meals, all sorts, it was clean and really delicious. Just outside her lodge, so it was really convenient. Sometimes, she would cook. But very seldom, since she had to borrow the inn manager's kitchen.

At three, she would go. There are times when she'd leave earlier, immediately after they ate. She had to work, she said, since scrolls from Konoha arrived.

In a month, they fell to a quite comfortable casual relationship. They strictly kept it at that, no talk of why's or the past or even the future; for things might slip off-track and it could ruin this safe bond.

But it had also been bothering him why she was still here this long. At first, she just shrugged.

"Don't tell me you're still bored."

She bit her lower lip and shrugged again. "Who knows, maybe I am."

"Hn. Don't you work?"

"I do."

"Then, why?"

"Tsunade-sama mails me some scrolls from time to time."

"That's risky."

"Maybe. But that's the fifth Hokage and a legendary Sannin we're talking about. Security breaches are nothing."

"Pft."

At this point, he could no longer deny that he was getting used to having her around. But he absolutely couldn't keep her here.

Prison had made him think over a lot of things. Before, however, while he was still a nomad traveling around without a purpose, he also thought a lot. Yet prison, on the other hand, had made him tap into things he would have never allowed his head to dwell into.

For nights, he had been musing. And he, himself, was confounded of all these conflicting, uh, feelings.

Was it the prison, all these thick, cold walls, which was making him think of things with lights and warmth and pink in contrast of the black all around?

When he saw her again, during her first visit, he was worried that maybe she hadn't forgotten him still; that the Tsukuyomi he performed on her wasn't strong enough to disillusion her from her silly _puppy love_. But then again, maybe he was egotistical and she was only there because of Naruto, of course. That dismayed and disgusted expression as she looked at him, as well as her walk out was clearly a sign that his torture worked. Yet, it had bothered him.

Maybe seeing her the first time that first visit initially sparked hope in him. Maybe, things could just turn around a little. With her and Naruto. But all of those were shattered even before he started to realize it, realize her.

Though, now, little by little, he had been truly hopeful. And for the first time in ages, he had looked forward to the next day.

If he'd have his way, he could easily ask her to stay. And maybe, she would love so, too. But that was just selfish. He didn't mind being selfish, although that was before. Not when, if he would, she could suffer.

After all, he was still that criminal who had attempted to kill her out of whim. He had yet to ask for her forgiveness for that. And, it wouldn't work out by only uttering a simple sorry.

But, yes, he could be certain that in her presence, he was hopeful; in her absence, he would most certainly be in agony.

"Why do you come, Sakura?" he finally insisted, and if she would once again finesse out of the question, he would push further.

"Because, Sasuke…" she answered like that smartass that she was, turning clauses into full sentences.

"Are you here only to prove that you were sincere and that I was wrong?"

"No! That's silly. I am here because I want to be. Would you rather that I leave?" And the smartass woman so cunningly turned the hot seat to him.

"He didn't answer immediately; but when he did she was waiting intently for his response, he suddenly felt brave.

"No."

"Then just let me be. I'll leave when I want to."

"I meant not for good."

"For good what?"

"It's fine if you leave," he exhaled, heavily. "But I'd wish you'd visit once in a while."

She blushed; for the first time, he saw her face grow timid, and faint pink rushed to her cheeks. "_Why_?"

"Hn." He couldn't answer. "I don't want you forgetting your life back there just to keep me company."

She shook her head, "No, of course I won't. I was just waiting." He scrunched his face to inquire further. "An assurance, Sasuke, that I could be sure with you."

Silence engulfed them for a while. He didn't know what assurance she was waiting for, but maybe this was his chance to assure things with her, and that he could be assured himself.

He straightened up, exuding that Uchiha attitude once again. But he could hardly keep his heart from pounding so loudly in his ears.

"Go home, Sakura," he began. "But I also want you to look for something."

"Okay?"

"You, if you have time, go meet Nekobaa." She waited for him to continue; she tried to remember where she had heard of the Nekobaa. It turned out that Nekobaa was the old lady with a lot of cats they had worked for when they were still genin. She was also the trader who used to sell the paraphernalia the Uchiha clan needed. "Before I fought Itachi, I went to her shop. She showed me something that was of high importance to our clan. She said she'd keep it until I was ready to make use of it."

She listened intently, though Sakura didn't know what he was thinking. Why, all of a sudden, was he interested about his clan? Was he trying to revive the dignity the Uchiha had lost? This was a good thing, though. It made her feel as though Sasuke had found some perspective again.

"I want you to take it. And if you're ready, come back here." That was only what he had said about it. His errand seemed important; and even though she didn't want to go just yet, she felt the need to. A day after her return to Konoha, she went to that abandoned city where Nekobaa's shop still operated.

A brunette girl was sitting in the cash register, twirling a kunai with her fingers. She recalled that this might be that little girl who lived with the old lady when they were here years and years ago.

"Oh, finally, a customer," the girl looked up.

"Um, yes, I am looking for Nekobaa, I am here for Uchiha Sasuke?" Sakura didn't miss the undeniable glow in the girl's eyes and her ears perked with curiosity.

"No way!" She ran to the backdoor and screamed for her grandmother to come out. "There's a _girl_ for Sasuke-kun! Hurry! This must be it!"

In minutes, Nekobaa was also breathless as she emerged from the backdoor of the shop covered only by a tattered brown curtain. The old lady smiled, so widely, that Sakura couldn't help but grow curious herself. Nekobaa took her hand and led her inside.

"I remember you were his old teammate, yes?" Sakura nodded. "And how is Uchiha Sasuke now? I heard he's in prison, yes?"

"Yes. He asked me to take that thing you showed him when he was here last."

"Aa. I didn't think I could live to see the day to give the heirloom away again."

"Heirloom?"

"Aa. After the massacre, the Sandaime entrusted the Uchiha's entire heirloom to me."

"Oh. Is that so?"

"Yes. And you said, Sasuke-kun asked you to take it?"

"Yes, ma'am, and I have to give it back to him after." The old lady was beaming even more.

"Aa. The Uchiha has finally had a change of heart. Maybe we could all hope for nothing but the best for this clan." She finally let go of Sakura and reached out for a box on the top shelf. Tamaki held the ladder steady for her grandmother, and she was equally excited as the old lady.

Nekobaa dusted off a little box made of white marble. It had turned yellow through time, but Sakura bet that when cleaned, it could be as beautiful as a pearl.

"Here," said the old lady, placing the box on her palms. "I want you to open it."

She did. And what was inside almost took her breath away, to the point that she almost fainted.

It was a ring.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: THANK YOU SO SO VERY MUCH! Cheers! We're almost done! More love, guys... And do check the Sasusaku Month at LJ, for more of that SasuSaku fluff from more great authors!<strong>

**Enjoy~ :3**

**Edit:** Gaaah! I'm sorry for all the typo. I've read through it again, and fixed some of those mistakes. It's embarrassing as I rushed it to beat the deadline for 19Jul. Typos on other chapters would need to wait. Haha! Thanks again, guys! :)**  
><strong>


	6. Unintended

**Chapter 6: Unintended**

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><p>He was truly a sick, verbally incapacitated bastard.<p>

Or was this another of his Sharingan tricks?

Sakura was glaring viciously at the white marble box, where that Uchiha ring lay, on top of the table, three meters away from her.

She had been staring at it for almost an hour now; and she had tried to look for reasons why Sasuke would need it - other than stating the obvious. However, all that she could see was that beautiful opal gel cut perfectly in contrast to the white diamond below, forming the red and white clan colors.

It couldn't be.

There was no way that the ring was for _that_ purpose. No chance in hell. This was just too good to be true, and either the gods are fucking with her or she was just dreaming.

Uchiha Sasuke would not engage himself in marriage.

In turn, Haruno Saskura would not get proposed to without the groom actually proposing.

_Seriously, Sasuke, you do not conform, do you_?

Still, that ring was not an engagement ring! No matter how surreal and lovely it would have looked on these dainty fingers of hers.

She finally stood and walked towards the backdoor, making sure to keep her distance from the table as she passed - in case the ring would explode.

"Nekobaa, are there any scrolls or books about the history or lists of jutsu the Uchiha has?" she asked.

"Aa. There are. And up until now I try to chronicle anything that I can add up to their history." She led her to a staircase under the cupboard, a small pathway to a basement filled with old boxes and chests.

"Anything you want to know about the Uchiha clan, you can probably find it her. Or you can just ask me."

"Would you tell me the truth?" Sakura doubted. "Then what is the real purpose of the ring?"

Nekobaa chuckled. "I already told you, Sakura-san, it is a wedding ring passed down from generations. That ring is as old as the Hidden Village of the Leaf - probably even older."

Still, she refused to give in. "No other special purpose, like enhancing the Sharingan or like an invisible shield, or like Madara's time-space jutsu?"

"No, of course not. That's exaggeration! It's simply a wedding ring, and Mikoto-sama was the last one who used it."

"Stop screwing with me, old hag!" She mentally scolded Naruto for having such a bad mouth that she got infected by it.

"Oh, just accept it. Believe me; I am sure that this ring was painstakingly carved only for that purpose. After all, my whole life I had served the Uchiha, so I should know."

"But, Sasuke sait it was of high importance to the clan!"

"It is important. The Uchiha heir chooses the next matriarch very seriously. And if Sasuke-kun chooses you, then he must also regard you of high importance."

Sakura didn't have any word to counter that, nor did she even let herself process what she said. She turned away from the cat lady and to the stacks of books on top of the low table in the middle of the room.

"If you need me for anything, Nekobaa, I will just be here."

The other found this young woman very amusing. Most girls would have easily laid themselves in front of Sasuke for marriage. But then again, that could be the case years ago when Sasuke didn't held that stigma. Now, however, no one would even put up with a convict like Sasuke.

This young lady was the only one who did. Yet why would she refuse the fact that Sasuke was technically asking her hand for marriage? The question made Nekobaa thoughtful for a while. Then maybe, it could only mean one thing.

A previous heartbreak.

Yes. Aa. That could be the only explanation why Haruno Sakura was wary of jumping at the ring and wearing it now. She must have loved him before; when he left the village and became a traitor, she was devastated. And this time, she couldn't trust her heart to that same person who crushed it.

Though Nekobaa could see in her eyes, behind the fear was a hopeful one wishing all Nekobaa was saying were true.

Hours passed since Sakura started her research. It was also turning dark and they had insisted her to spend the night. She agreed, and was grateful since until now she had not found anything about the ring.

Instead, she was pulled in to the rich history of the Uchiha clan so intensively written. The techniques, the Sharingan, the police force. It was all impressive, and she felt so bad that the clan as great and powerful as theirs came crumbling down.

More scrolls and chapters later, she understood why the Uchiha came to its tragic end.

Best friends and brothers killing each other for power. The constant pressure on the first born. The eternal hunger for strength and power. And when she reached the chapter about the Uchiha massacre, her heart was heaving, distraught.

It was Nekobaa, she guessed, who wrote this part. It was unbelievable. She also noticed that the entry was somehow new compared to the older ones. This was just written, maybe only ten years back.

But besides that, she was strewn on the tatami mats and couldn't help but flung herself away from her reading and cry heavily on the floor.

Konoha had ordered for the clan's disappearance, all because the Uchiha clan were suffering from being ostracized, and was planning a coup.

And Konoha had ordered none other than Uchiha Itachi to do it.

How did Sasuke react to all of these? Were these the reasons why she killed the Elders one after another? Why he had sworn to destroy Konoha?

Itachi had become a hero of Konoha, after all. And what did Sasuke has to say about that? Was he still angry at his brother for choosing the village instead of family?

She wished he was here, so she could wrap her arms around him, tell him she was sorry about what happened; say she wished she had known it beforehand so she could have understood him more. Truly understood him.

Sakura wondered, however, if Sasuke still bore that hate to the village. Or had it all died down after he defeated the last elder? Was he still hang up with revenge? Somehow, she understood why he would. But still, it was all Madara's fault. The chronicles said it was Madara who released the Kyuubi.

When Nekobaa found her, her eyes were puffy and she knew Sakura had finally learned about it.

"Nekobaa, did you know about the massacre before Sasuke was here?"

"Aa."

"Did you know about Madara, too?"

"Aa. It was Madara who told me everything. He showed up one day and told me everything, wanted me to write down what Konoha had done."

"D-do you believe him?" asked Sakura, suddenly hopeful that it was only a lie that Madara came up with.

"Yes. That's probably why the Sandaime couldn't look straight at me when he was here."

She almost choked as she felt another sob quiver in her throat. "I can't believe Sandaime had agreed to this..."

"He didn't. Madara said the Third wanted a compromise, but Danzo and the others went on ahead."

She was a little relieved to hear that. She didn't want any more reason for her to dislike her village. "Why didn't you tell Sasuke about this, then? It could have prevented him from joining Madara!"

"It wasn't my place."

"Wasn't your place? Whose place was it then?"

"I have sworn my service to the Uchiha. I couldn't turn an Uchiha against another."

"It could have saved one Uchiha, Nekobaa!" Sakura blurted out, frustrated. What blind service! That wasn't honor… but she just fell silent. "What about Itachi? What didn't he kill Sasuke then?"

"I don't know. But I know Itachi-kun could not make himself kill his brother. He adored Sasuke, maybe even more than his own life. It didn't surprise me that Sasuke was the only one left alive."

She slept that night, with a hole that ironically made her heart feel so heavy. All she wanted was to see him, to tell him things that might not erase the pain, but could somehow ease it, little by little. That she would be here, now and always, for him.

Yet she woke up in the middle of the night, crying again. For she had dreamt of that little boy whose innocence and love had been taken away. And that little boy who had known pain and hate and had to leave all the things he had ever known to live in hell.

She couldn't get back to sleep. So she just packed her things and prepared to leave. On the way out, she left a note as she took the ring from the table. Before dawn, she was back in Konoha.

The Hokage office was still closed but she knew Naruto was already awake for breakfast - well he should be! Gladly, he was.

"Did you know about it?" she asked as she stormed into his office.

"Sakura! Where have you been yesterday?"

"I was on a trip. And guess what I found out! The truth about the Uchiha massacre." Naruto was taken aback. "Do you know about it?"

He nodded. "Y-yes, I did."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I, well, he ordered me not to tell you," admitted Naruto, while scratching his head.

"Who? Madara?"

"No. Sasuke. When we fought the last time, and when I told him that I knew everything about the mission Konoha gave to Itachi. He asked me if _you_ know. Before I fell unconscious, he just said, 'Don't ever tell her about it, or I'll kill you.' Or maybe I just imagined the kill-you part, hehe."

"What? Why the hell would he do that? Was this just some classified information I shouldn't know? I'm also part of the team."

That's true. But somehow, Naruto had understood why Sasuke didn't want her to. "Maybe he just wanted to spare you of that awful truth."

"That's ridiculous! What am I, twelve?"

She was contemplative. She left the Tower without telling Naruto about the ring. Why would Uchiha Sasuke prevent her from knowing about it? Did her really want her to spare her from the bad things, or was he just shutting her out again?

On her palm was the marble box, and she never looked at the ring again since the first time. But today, she did. It was still breathtaking, and it let her feel all those emotions she felt when she first saw it. Red and white glimmered at her as the sun caught its edges.

Unconsciously, she slipped it on her ring finger, and she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life. It was perfect as though it was made only for her. At that moment, all she wanted was to see him.

After a week, she was back in Kumo. When she saw him, she hugged him first, for all the sadness that he had no one to share it with.

"Did you get the ring?"

She didn't let go of him still, but instead she whispered, "I won't forgive you about that ring. But I want to tell you that I know about Itachi. But why'd you have to keep it from me even when Naruto already knew about it?"

He didn't answer. When she removed her hands away from him to look at his face, she looked sad. "Were you shutting me out?"

"No. I didn't want you to feel sorry for me, or feel bad about it. I wanted you to forget me, with hate."

"What? Why?"

"Because seeing you and Naruto still chasing after me was pathetic. I wish you both to move on, especially you."

"Then why are you doing this _now_? Why did you ask me to look for that stupid ring?"

"I want you to have it."

"_Why_? When you didn't want us _chasing _after you? Or do you just want me to eat it?"

He clenched his jaw. How annoying was it that this woman was among Konoha's brightest, yet simple common sense was incomprehensible to her?

"Because, Sakura, you were the only one who still stayed after everything else."

"That's pathetic and unromantic, Uchiha!" Sakura fumed. "You're saying that you didn't have a choice, that I was the only girl that's available and stupid enough to be with you? You should ask Naruto, too!"

"You are really annoying."

"Then what? Tell me what you really feel, Uchiha!" As if that would make an Uchiha Sasuke talk.

"Can you give it to me now?" ordered Uchiha Sasuke.

"It's in the bag," she just said, not giving him the satisfaction of making her do his command.

When he found it, he pulled her hand, so unattractively, that Sakura wanted to smack him. He took the ring out of the marble box, stared at it for the longest time. Sakura saw his face turn melancholic, and in that little change of expression, her heart melted.

She could feel Sasuke's fingers fondling so tenderly with hers, as if searching for something he could only find in her. Slowly, he wore the ring into her finger.

After that, he just stared at her while she was waiting for him to say something. "T-that's it?"

"Aa."

"You're not gonna tell me something?"

"That's my mother's ring. I want you to have it."

"B-because?" she lingered.

"Because I want you to take her place."

_You want me to be your mother?_ She almost blurted out, but Sasuke opened his mouth to speak again.

"Because I never expected myself to want any other woman to be wearing that ring, but my mother," he uttered. "It was a fairly unintended choice to pick you. But I was beginning to like the idea."

"Sasuke, you idiot." She muffled her voice into her palm. Somehow, she found it endearingly romantic that he asked her to be his unintended.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Hahaha! For the record, that ring was completely unexpected and unintended! I didn't intend to make a proposal scene, but maybe because yesterday I was feeling so down, and I just want to make myself feel good even for a bit.

I'm not so good in these cheesy, fluffs. But again, I hope you like it. Thank you also for fangirling with me as Sasuke stupidly proposed to her in such a sloppy way... I really appreciate everything. We're almost done! Thanks guys!

Enjoy~ :3

**Chapter Reference: Unintended by Muse**


	7. She Was A Wreck, But So Was He

**Chapter 7: She Was a Wreck, But So Was He**

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><p>The stars were certain. That everything had been completely unexpected, and inevitably unintended.<p>

They were of contradicting opposites. She was pink, he was black. She was an undetermined girl, he was full of purpose. She was just like any other shinobi, he was of prestige. She was weak, he was all strength. She was love, he was hate.

Time and time again they were reminded that they are two poles clashing. Yet at one time, the other had tried so hard to reach out and lay her heart in his hand. But the other had something in mind. Like what was already said previously, they both tried to run away; but time and time again they ran into one another, then ran _past_ each other once again.

This time, could they even get away, when knowing it was in each other's contradiction that they revel: she in his tragic life she so wanted to carry with him; and he in her bright emerald eyes that shone life he was tempted to experience.

They were fiction: she was a damsel in distress, and he was a gallant knight who rescued but never cared. But now their stories had taken a drastic turn, in which she was the siren who would carry this desolate sailor ashore. They were fiction, once and always. For even if their love could reach each other's hearts, reality would always push them back to the ground.

"I want you to marry me, Haruno Sakura, is that so difficult for you to understand?" he finally said it so definitely, he wasn't even twitching.

She was still crying, for all the gentleness he didn't know he was showing. She knew he wasn't good with words to convey his heart; but yes, it was all enough for her. And she could have easily said yes. But she didn't.

Sure, she was able to visit him every day the past month. But could she do that for years and years? For marriage entailed family; and how can they make the marriage work with him being so far away? Did he expect her to raise the family alone while he was in this place? Or make her move to Kumo? The last was certainly out of the question.

She had doubts, nevertheless. But she knew, deep down, her doubts stemmed with her being scared. Could she trust him with her heart, again? Why not, you would ask, when Sasuke had asked her hand for marriage. What else was she scared of, if Sasuke was willing to take her heart this time?

Sakura didn't have an answer to that. But to answer him, she'd have to decline.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. It's a bit too much. Marriage is a big thing; it's too early for you to say you want to be with me."

At first, he wasn't able to comprehend. But slowly it finally sank in. "Or is it too late for you to be with me?"

She took his hand instead, and nuzzled her cheeks in his calloused palm hardened by blood and death. She wanted to stay like that, her face drawing in warmth from his hand; she wanted to find solace in this dingy, cold place.

But things weren't as simple as that.

He felt frustrated as tears continued to flow down her face, and to his hand. He slipped his arm from her cheeks to her shoulders and pulled her in, so tightly. She sobbed even more, and clutched the cloth on his chest. Why was it that even though he told her good things, she still cried? Always, she cried for him, she cried because of him.

They stayed like that for the rest of her visit. And they parted in a bittersweet way. She returned his ring before she left, but he asked her to have it.

"Keep it. I have no more use of it, anyway," then he turned away and walked back to his cell. At the back of his mind, there was a small tinge of disillusionment in her. Hadn't he told her not to do things that could spark hope in him, when she couldn't live up to it?

She didn't return for months; when Naruto went to visit she didn't come with him. It was space for herself so she'd detach herself from him first, and then figure things out. She was worried that maybe if she'd go and see him, she would suddenly take on his proposal.

It was winter when suddenly there was a knock on her door. She had just come home from the hospital after an overnight shift, and was about to crash her sofa for a little nap before going back to drown herself with more work.

When she opened it, the man handed her an envelope. It was a plain white small envelope with nothing on it but her name and a stamp sealed on the upper right side with the insignia of the Land of the Lightning.

Initially, she ruled out Sasuke as the sender, since he wasn't a letter person, she thought. Maybe it came from Kumo asking her for missions? But all such requests were handled by and discussed with the Hokage. She tore the envelope, and found that it was from him after all. And knowing that made her feel guilty for avoiding him after his proposal.

Her heart was beating loudly, and her hands quiver as she began to read.

_I would have told you all these in person, or much earlier. But when you're here, I couldn't say anything. And my mind couldn't think of anything else. I am a coward, in front of you. And sometimes I hate it that I feel this weak._

_I have asked you to be with me, despite incarceration; it was selfish, I know. One might think it was all the more abusive because of your devotion._

_When you turned my proposition down, I could say I was hurt. Yes, I was crushed. But I understand that you did. I know I would be stealing years of your life if you agreed. Maybe even after I've been released, you could suffer, just being my matriarch._

_Still, I would hope that you'd wait. But if it had tired you out, that's fine. I would understand._

_I am only but a man, foolish enough to still think that you could reconsider offering your heart once again, even after I have declined numerous times before._

_This will be my first and last letter to you, if I could help myself. So I will tell you everything I would want you to know._

_Firstly, I am sorry. For the suffering I have caused, for the hate I've exuded, for the years of rejection, and for cutting all the bonds. I have my own reasons for it, but I'd rather keep them to myself. For none could justify all the pain I have caused. I can only say, sorry._

_I also apologize for being selfish. I have thought only of myself when I asked you to take the ring, take my name and keep my heart. I didn't consider the consequences of my actions, and how it might affect you._

_I have asked for your whole life, and yet I have only my pathetic, imprisoned self to offer. For that, I am utterly apologetic._

_I guess it would be best to let you go, and say you deserve so much more than to be with a man with blood and evil attached to his soul._

_Still, forgive my letter as I would not end it without telling you what I could hardly say in your presence. I am still being selfish doing so, I know, as I still hope that you could find the strength and faith to wait. Know that I'll be waiting for you when you're ready; after all I have nothing left but to wait for time, and I might as well wait on you._

_I do not know when or how it started. I guess you were just one of the new people I cared about years before. Before I left Konoha, and you trying to make me stay intrigued me to the point that at one moment I felt special. Somewhere, someone had wished me to stay, or someone was willing to follow me to the path of darkness just to be with me. But you were a great distraction then, and I felt the dire need to cut you off._

_Years later, you were still there, ever faithful. And I could not find any one who could surpass your stupidity. However, when I first saw you here I prison, I didn't want anything more but to travel in time and see if you would still be there in the future, with me. That could have been all worthy to wait on. You made me hope; made me want to continue on._

_Maybe you were right years and years ago. Revenge couldn't bring me happiness. Because it was you who'd bring it, in baskets of towels and onigiri and tomatoes and tea, and even in pocketbooks you'd make me read. _

_Lastly, thank you. Allow me to entrust you my heart. It is yours to choose what to do with it. In the end, please know that I would have always wanted you'd keep it._

_U.S._

She read it over and over, and each time, she felt all those same emotions she had felt when she read it the first time – and more. She was impressed on how heartfelt his letter was; she was expecting nothing more than a 'hn'. But it was… heartfelt. She couldn't help but imagine him struggling to write every word down.

With that, she couldn't keep her tears from falling again. It irked him how he was so far away, and so out of reach when all she wanted now was to hold him.

She was stubborn, however. She still didn't go to see him. But all this time, she was torn. She was overwhelmed with passion and longing she could no longer deny. It was already a year since she last saw him; he did do what he said, he never wrote again. After all, she didn't write back.

She planned her visit, and asked Naruto and Kakashi to join her. They arrived at night, the next day she wore her best dress. She was clad in white cotton, so flimsy that her body felt light. He was surprised, no breathless when he saw her; standing at their table. Kakashi was standing beside her; Naruto walked towards him and patted his shoulders with a big, silly grin.

He didn't know what was going on, but the Raikage was sitting at the other side of the table, looking grumpy. He had refused to be a part of it, and even talked Sakura from doing this. "You are wasting yourself on this traitor! You do not deserve it, you're beautiful and smart. Live your life the way a girl like you should!"

But she was no ordinary girl; she was in love with him, his complicated past, his lapse of judgment, his grudges. For she would want nothing more but to fix his broken self, even if it would take a lifetime. She would do it over and over in the next life. Maybe she had already done so in the past.

He walked over to them with a confused expression, but everything went into place as he stood beside her and she smiled. The whiteness of her dress illuminated her porcelain skin; her neck and her bone were bare. Her softness intoxicated him. Her smile was of the brightest; her hair was pulled up in a neat bun, with only a few lost strands framing her beautiful face.

"Uchiha Sasuke," she began, her voice in a quiver. "I will marry you on one condition. Let me continue writing the history of your clan, which I found at Nekobaa's." He just raised an eyebrow, surprise at her demand. Why would she want to do that? "So tell me everything that happened to you after you left. In return, I'll marry you!"

He was unsure of her bargain. But what the hell. He planned to tell her everything anyway. "Aa. Just make sure you'll be in it from now moving forward."

In the background, Naruto was interrupted, "What kind of cheesy pick-up line was that, teme! Will you just kiss her already?"

They both suddenly grew tense with his suggestion, and Kakashi and Naruto burst out laughing. "Oi, you two, don't tell me you've never kissed before! Surely now isn't the time to be bashful about it!"

"Yeah! The honeymoon will follow right after, before visiting hours end. I heard the conjugal area has never been used before," Kakashi chided.

"Oh right, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted that the whole prison must have heard him. "Maybe Raikage here could extend Sakura-chan's visit for the honeymoon. Maybe overnight, ne, Raikage-jichan?"

Sasuke and Sakura were blushing tomatoes and cherries; she couldn't help but punch the two to silence them.

Raikage cleared his throat, signaling to start the ceremony and get this thing over with. He didn't like the idea of this. The boy was an idiot, and the girl was equally stupid. But, somehow, some time during the wedding, he was distracted at how the couple in front of him felt just so right. The lady was blooming, the Uchiha was almost smiling.

Maybe this world was full of wrecks, after all. And they all find each other, maybe not to make another wreck out of themselves again, but to fix one another instead.

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>I am soooo sorry this was late. I couldn't think of a plot, but maybe it was because I was stalling to finish this fic. Every thing I said I wouldn't do when writing, I all did it here. I never thought I would write a wedding scene, or end any fic in a wedding ceremony. For one, I do not believe in it. But it just felt so right to have these two a good ending. And thinking about it makes me all light and fuzzy.

Again, Thank you so much for everything. I love all your reviews! I hope you like my story too. It had been fun. I wish to see you all again next time. BTW, a sequel will be coming out on Sasuke's birthday, which means sooooon...

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><p><strong>Edit... Did I mean sequel? Meant epilogue! Sorry, it must be all the stress yesterday. I know I promised an epilogue, but I just couldn't make myself to write it in time for Sasuke's birthday. In the meantime, I will end here and make this fic COMPLETE. Maybe in the future, I could make myself write it with a better state of mind.<strong>

**For the last time, I would like to thank every one for enjoying this story with me. And, Happy Birthday, Sasuke! :)**

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><p><em>This fic is dedicated to you. If only you were articulate enough and mean what you write in all your letters, maybe things would have turned out right. Then again, maybe I was blind enough to see all those little things you tried to show me. Whichever, I wish we find our closure. May fate lead you here, for I couldn't bring myself to tell you all these yet.<em>


	8. The Brightest Firefly in Her Jar

**EPILOGUE:**

_**The Brightest Firefly in Her Jar**_

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><p>Uchiha Sasuke gazed upon the hand of the woman in front of him, whose fingers wore an emblem that signified her new life as an Uchiha. Her new life as his wife. Her new life with him.<p>

The ring bled red opal that blended with her soft pink hair; and the diamond underneath the deep crimson illuminated her skin and her flimsy white dress even more. It was truly as though the heirloom was created only for her. That her fingers were perfectly fit to flaunt the proud emblem.

She had a serene smile upon her face, only for him and for the ceremony that just took place. Everyone had gone now, and it was only the two of them left sitting by their usual table in the visiting hall of the prisons of Kumogakure, as usual.

To have her agree to a marriage despite his incarceration was something he had already given up on – most especially when he hadn't heard from her for a year after his proposal. But she was there, in front of him, wearing her best dress, her most beautiful smile, giving him her only life; all of which made the most precious jewel of his clan lose its usual luster in his eyes.

He led her away from the hall and into a narrow corridor that the prison guards guided them through. All the while, his heart was pounding very loudly and his palms were cold. He was unsure of how to go about this for he never had any experiences with women, and he never kissed his bride before.

When the Kumogakure had officially announced their union, they were busy buzzing Naruto and Kakashi off because of their constant – and loud – cheering for their matrimonial, and apparently first, kiss.

As he closed the old wooden door of the conjugal room, they just stood the longest time staring at each other; sheepish of what to do next. Holding her hand was enough for him that moment, for he knew he had received her soul that day. Her hand was as clammy as his were, but he didn't mind at all. He gained comfort to the fact that her heart was as erratic as his was, she was as queasy and aflutter as he was.

Inside that dark room, with dusts and cold walls and no signs of jubilation for what this day had been, Sasuke held her hand out and had her sit by a dingy chair beside a raddled table. He stood in front of her, watching her bright eyes, as he, still diffident, bent to kiss her fingers.

It was not a girl's dream to spend her wedding night inside a prison; much less was it a girl's dream to marry a convicted man who had destroyed villages and betrayed his friends and even tried to kill her several times over. But like already stated before, she was drawn to his darkness, and in his pain did she yearn to use her strong hands to heal.

She had become his hope in a place where there was none, in a life he had chosen to throw away after the fulfillment of his exalted goals. Despite darkness, his lips drew him to taste her porcelain skin as though her blood was a river gushing out to alleviate his thirst.

Neither knew how long he pieced her fingers; but when his lips finally touched her own, it was a moment, the desire he would look back to every day of his life.

Their first kiss was reminiscent even sixteen years after their marriage, as he walked the halls of the prison to meet her outside, under the clouds of Kumo. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison, charged as an international criminal and a public enemy of the previous war. But he was granted three years parole for his behavior inside. Despite his connections to the influential Hokage, he was never given any special treatment and he had served his sentence as any prisoners should.

After seventeen years, he was finally freed. After decades, he was finally going home.

Right on the front gates she stood, patiently waiting. Of course, this annoying woman, there were tears pouring from her eyes as she watched him walk towards them. To Sasuke, his release from prison was a gift he could finally offer her, the fulfillment of a promise when he took her as his wife, to have and to hold; be there for her for better or for worse.

For he knew no other way than this: to be the man who'd spend a lifetime protecting her, looking after her, and yes, loving her in more ways than one his Uchiha heart had learned to love through years of being married to the woman named Haruno Sakura.

A lifetime wasn't enough, though, to make up for everything she had done for him. She had delivered him from a life of desolation; at that time of his life when passion had left him, when imprisonment saved him from wandering aimlessly in unknown forests, she entered the walls of prison. Although, at first she was repulsed at his pathetic state and was prepared to never see him again. He never knew what he had done to turn things around and made her stay. Or perhaps he didn't do anything at all, since all along she had loved him unconditionally.

Had he went on with his ways of darkness, and she continued to care for him deeply, he would spite her and call her stupid. She, however, turned things around. And for that, he was greatly indebted to her.

She was his salvation.

Once, while on a visit, she whispered her gratitude for making all her wishes come true. He might not have dreamt for a life such as this, nor did he ever think this was possible, but he was glad that she had made an improbability real for him.

On the day of his release, the clouds were overcast, the old prison tower hovered a bleak atmosphere upon the surroundings and barbs around him. No birds sang, and again no signs of celebrations could be seen.

Except for the girl who stood beyond the gates.

Her blossom tresses were all that lit up the skies, were all he could see. She wore a sweet smile upon her face amidst all the tears. Through the years, she still held the blessings of youth and the promise of spring.

Uchiha Sasuke didn't realize he had stopped walking and was standing still, entranced by her very presence, until he saw yellow and pink running from the corner of his eyes.

"Oi, teme! Oi, finally you're here," yelled Naruto as he approached Sakura's side.

"'tou-san! Over here, over here. Hurry!" shouted the child with pink hair and black eyes, almost jumping from Naruto's arms.

He couldn't help but smile. It was Saya, his third child, his only daughter. At the back of his mind, however, he noted to punch Naruto for his contagious loudness.

In no time, the towers and the coldness it exuded were all forgotten and the skies seemed to scatter to let the sun out. As he walked towards the entrance, as Saya leapt from Naruto's arms and into her father's, as Naruto beamed like a total idiot in his best friend's pending freedom from the oppressive gates of prison, as Sakura blinked her tears away, he finally felt grounded and everything Sakura had painted in his mind became real.

Uchiha Sasuke left prison a renewed man. No, that was an understatement. For when he left prison, he was reincarnated into an alternate world he never even thought could happen to him again after the death of his family.

"Okaeri nasai, anata," she whispered. In that moment, as he leaned to kiss her forehead and take in the sweet aroma of her hair, as the child in his embrace held him tightly, his life journey was but a spell broken by her warmth.

"Aa. I'm back."

Where did it all begin? One could say it started with her devout visits in the prison a long time ago. Others would argue it was a whim, a desperate move to salvage his soul and a pathetic cry of martyrdom. For him, it was indeed a whim; a sudden realization of his need for her continued existence; that during those days she had left after her refusal of marriage, it was then that he realized she had spoiled him of mornings spent with her, of meaningless talks, concealed feelings and her overwhelming presence.

For her, she had loved him forever; from her childish fascinations, it had transcended to foolish infatuation towards dark things. His flight from Konoha turned her to a fighter fighting for those she wanted to protect, and whom she wanted to retrieve. No one took her heart seriously, for she was just a young girl believing in mythical kindness found in a broken boy. In time, she finally believed them, that there never was a room for a traitor, for her almost-killer, inside her fragile heart.

But fate had been soft to them after years of watching them suffer. In a twist, they were now meant for each other. Perhaps they had always been, written in the stars to strive for a happy ending, not like those in myths. After all, they were neither prince nor princess to live happily ever after without pain and darkness.

They were meant to fight for a love affair impossible to attain. After all, they were opposing opposites.

It was the beginning of fall, and afternoons were now cool enough to spend outside. Uchiha Sasuke leaned back to the tatami wall by their veranda, overlooking a patio of carefully pruned bushes and a garden of varied flowers. The gingko tree rustled from the west, making a portrayal of cherry blossom showers.

It was a soothing afternoon to spend outside. He smoked his pipe with contented vigor while listening to the high-pitched humming of the woman working at the garden. She was never a good singer, but he had spent a thousand days getting used to it. He had tried rebuking her about it, but he had only received a smack on the head in rebuttal.

"Anata," she called out, with her back still towards him as she continued tilling the earth for a new pot of ornamentals. "Don't forget to check on the kettle. It's almost time for tea."

"Aa." Sasuke continued with his pipe.

"The kids will be here for dinner. Do thaw the meat from the freezer. You know how Naruto couldn't chew his food anymore."

He almost choked as the smoke went to his nasal passage instead of to his lungs. "I thought you said the kids were coming? What's Naruto doing here tonight?"

"Oh, you know how he is, anata. And Saya had also invited Hinata and Ryuusuke-kun over." It wasn't really an odd thing to have Naruto and his family over. In fact, the retired Hokage had been in the Uchiha household much frequently than he had to, much to Sasuke's annoyance. The rivalry between these two never really ceased, but it was a rivalry that was very much like in their youth.

"What about Mamoru and Kyo?"

"Yes, they're just back from their missions. They said they'll be here. The kids will be here, too, of course." Sasuke nodded, and smiled behind his pipe.

After Saya had moved out years ago and pursued her kunoichi trainings, it had only been him and her living in the large Uchiha manor. When Mamoru got married and they had their first grandchild, Sakura had insisted that the new family live with them, at least temporarily. This could also let Sakura monitor Sayaka, Mamoru's wife, and the baby more closely. Of course, it was also another reason for Sakura to pamper and spoil their first grandchild.

Eventually, Kyo also had a family of his own, and the list of grandchildren grew to six new Uchiha running around the manor. It would have been best to have all of them live in the main Uchiha house, but both Mamoru and Kyo chose to live separately instead. However, they were just few houses away, still inside the compound.

It was times like these that the house would get crowded with people again, children all around again. Although Uchiha Sasuke had learned to live all alone before, years with Sakura and with his own family had made him crave for their company. He was always in high spirits for family gatherings.

A lot had changed. His whole life, for one had. After coming back from prison, Konoha had taken him in – with the aid of the then Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto. He had several S-ranked missions after, and had trained students of his own. However, settling back in was never easy. People are still apprehended over the past, and some couldn't bring themselves to trust him again. Though he had already come to terms with the eradication of his clan, and living at the Uchiha compound again was somewhat bearable, thanks to his wife and children, the stigma on his past was still there.

Also, there were now people who were no longer with them. Hatake Kakashi had now died of old age; some friends were lost in battle. It was part of a shinobi life, but it never stopped Sakura and Naruto grieve and be saddened about it in some days. Sasuke had been affected too. That Sai painter was still around, though. But he had been travelling all over; they seldom got a chance to see him. And when they do, Sakura would always, always host dinner for him.

Sasuke puffed the last of his pipe and finally stood to start cooking. Sakura was never good in household chores, only in cleaning and in gardening. He couldn't imagine how they got by when he's in prison.

"Well, Ino was our maid," she once explained. Sasuke was always in charge of cooking, and it was a delight to have him in the kitchen.

Before he could slide the shoji and step inside to prepare dinner – he was thinking of beef stew or sukiyaki or nabe, but that's inappropriate in a big gathering, or not. Of course, tomatoes on the side, either grilled or pickled for the rice; Saya would have wanted grilled beef and the tomatoes, vegetable tempura or just plain baked potatoes – Sakura stopped him and interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, and try not to make the ramen too salty. You know what the doctor said about Naruto's diet – less salt, less fat, less sweets."

"Who said we'd have ramen for dinner?" Sasuke refuted.

"Naruto," she answered so casually, she didn't even look back from the pots she was tending. Perhaps she had been so used to this petty bickering of her two former teammates that she just chose to ignore Sasuke's petty bickering on Naruto's omnipresence.

"So, Naruto's head of family now?" he muttered loud enough for her to hear, and stomped his feet as he strode into the kitchen.

After all, no matter how much Sasuke showed how irritated he was to their blond friend, Sakura knew the Uchiha always caved in.

"Annoying woman," he muttered again, as he rolled the dough to make noodles.

The evening went by with faces beaming with happy smiles: Saya, the most blooming woman in the room; Sakura and Hinata, their wrinkles sparkling with happy tears; Naruto, proud and gay; most especially, Ryuusuke, who had finally asked for her hand in marriage.

The father of the bride was equally merry, to be honest; but he refused to show it – not in front of Naruto gushing of how powerful and beautiful their grandchildren would be, given the union of their children.

"You make it sound like it's our child, dobe."

But the father was equally having a difficult time accepting. That night after everyone had gone home, he went to his favorite place on the patio and leaned back to the shoji wall. He smoked his pipe in melancholy.

Everything would have been a perfect night to wallow upon the bittersweet feeling of giving your daughter away. But the wife had another plan.

Instead of a peaceful night outside with his pipe, Sakura emerged from inside carrying a futon and a blanket, lying down beside him.

"I'm smoking, Sakura."

"I can see that," she responded.

"You never liked the smell of cigars."

"I don't like feeling gloomy over my only daughter's happiness either."

"Hn."

"Let's sleep outside, Sasuke-kun," she whispered, watching the gardens and the rustling gingko. There was no moon that night. "Everyone's growing up now, and we're growing older. We might not have another chance to do this."

"Aa." And she slept beside him, clutching his shirt, as he sat leaning back to the shoji, smoking his pipe and drumming her forehead with his fingers.

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><p>It was a day of festivities for the Hidden Village of the Leaf for it was a day of inauguration for the Hachidaime Hokage following the retirement of Konohamaru, the seventh, after two decades of ruling.<p>

Back in the Uchiha compound, where the matriarch of the clan, already in her late seventies, sat by her garden drinking tea, the music and fireworks could be heard rather clearly. Her children had just dropped her off from town, and she decided to make tea for the afternoon.

Nothing about the celebrations, however, could lighten up her mood. Her children and grandchildren, who were all with her the whole day, also tried to dismiss their sadness to join in with the village. But before they went off to their own homes, they all asked her to stay with them and kissed her goodnight.

She wanted to spend the night here, in the main Uchiha house, in the large garden she had once nagged him to weed, mow and plow. Sakura closed her eyes as she sipped her tea, loving the feel of the wind as it played with her hair, now gray and washed off with time. She imagined it was him, running his fingers through her hair, like the first time he ever did way back in the dark prison room.

It should be a blessing, how he had died so peacefully exactly two years ago. How, that morning after he cooked their breakfast and waited for her to wake up, he sat by his usual corner in their patio and silently died. He didn't suffer, nor did he feel any pain, like how any shinobi should die. He was in his home, with a serene heart and soul; not somewhere in a battle, with hatred in his heart and hand.

Perhaps, Uchiha Sasuke had finally come full circle, finally able to meet his parents, his brother, with pride and integrity as he revived the Uchiha's name in a new light and compassion, surpassing the flags that had once bannered the clan's name in the past. With it, Uchiha Sasuke had ended the cycle of violence and hatred between brothers and clansmen.

Mamoru and Kyo and Saya all were testaments of the Uchiha's prestigious beginnings, rising from the rubble that the Uchiha of the old had brought to themselves. Hatake Kakashi had helped Sasuke on how to attain the powers of Sharingan without bloodshed or sacrificing eyes. But it was never perfect; this was where Sakura had come in. She had taught how power could corrupt one, and her motherly skills were full of love and contentment. If anything, she hoped it would continue on to more generations; that the Uchiha would no longer go back with eyes that can only see darkness.

And yet, despite everything that had gone so well with Sasuke's life, she couldn't help but still miss him so. In times like this, she usually just wallowed while looking at a distant space; this time, however, she took out a piece of pen and paper and started writing, remembering a letter he had once written so long ago, which she hadn't replied to.

Tears poured out as words of longing and love filled the page. She wrote of his departure, of their almost sixty years in marriage, of how he grew grumpier as he aged, but she knew his heart had softened and had become brittle to the slightest worry about his family. She told him she missed him, his tomatoes every single day and how his tomatoes still thrived in their backyard. She asked how Naruto was, and Sai and Kakashi, his family, did he ever meet them somewhere where the souls of the dead meet?

_I wonder, anata, if I die, would you be there to pick me up? Like those times you would patiently wait outside the hospital so late at night to bring me home after my shift. But then again, you should be; or I will scour all heavens and hell to look for you and punch your pompous Uchiha face if you are not on my deathbed. _

_After all, I have waited on you all my life; perhaps it's time you wait on me too. There are times, however, that I wouldn't want you waiting too long; you know how I hated making people wait. Would you be ready for me if I go too soon? Or are you always there, just there beside me, waiting on me. _

_I miss you, Sasuke-kun. But when I do, I just look around me and see all the happiness you've given that could last me another lifetime. Who would have thought that we'd have three beautiful children when years before, you didn't even like me? Now, now that we've been through a lot and now that I know for sure you love me as I do, I am glad I have restored my faith in you. For what it's worth, the dark days with you were nothing but days to strengthen me, us. _

_You have granted all my wishes, been the best husband, partner, father, friend despite the dark days you have had. All I can say is thank you. Thank you for choosing me, instead of taking a path on your own. Thank you for trying to change and letting me in. Thank you for loving all three of them with best you can. I cannot ask anything more from you._

_Except, maybe, be with me right now. My selfishness and grief could only make me wish for the impossible. But how long a time until I stop feeling this emptiness? Despite the love showered to me by our children and beloved grandkids, I couldn't help but yearn for you, instead. _

_And yet, death still scares me. If I would be reborn into another world, would you be there as well? Would we tread the same path, or would this be the only world in which we'd meet? It scares me, you see, that when I die, I might lose all the memories I had with you, or I wouldn't be able to find you anywhere after this._

_Funny, even in death, I am clingy. If you were beside me, reading as I write, I know you'd be smirking back at me and wanting to slap my forehead. Maybe you've already had, since I wouldn't be able to retaliate and uppercut your pretty Uchiha jaw. _

_But would you blame me, when loving you had been the greatest curse and gift I received in the world? When even at such a young and stupid age, I had known that my heart would beat the fastest whenever around you? But even in your absence, my heart beats like snares and cymbals when I think of you. Like now. Does that mean, you're somewhere near? _

_I miss you, anata. When I wake up tomorrow morning, will you be there beside me?_

She went to bed that night, dried tears on her cheeks and clutching the letter under her pillow. She took one long look at her finger, which wore the jewel that signified her status as the matriarch of the Uchiha; the jewel that signified how Uchiha Sasuke wanted her to spend her whole life under his name, holding his heart.

And then, she closed her eyes.

When she opened it, she was suddenly on his back, her hands around his neck. And his hair was black again, her hair still pink. They were jumping above roofs of the Konoha of their childhood, when there were only four heads carved in the Hokage Mountain; and they were twelve once more.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn. I see you've gained weight while I was dead."

"W-what did you say?"

"Shut up, Sakura. You're annoying."

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><p><strong>AN: <strong>Finally, after a year, I was able to write this epilogue. This should have been submitted as an entry to the SasuSaku Month at LJ, but I was late. But, still, it should be posted under the prompt for _July 23: Journey_.

Thank you everyone, for the reviews, for all the love for this series. And I hope you all like this final chapter.

And so, I end **_She Was A Wreck, But So Was_ _He_** with bittersweet feelings. And may these two find their own peace and happiness, together or apart.

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SASUKE-KUN!**

**Chapter Title Reference: **Brightest by Copeland.

Enjoy~ :3

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><p><em><strong>to love that transcends time. and circumstances.<strong>_


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